It's not the way that you say it
by AozoraNoShita
Summary: ...it's more the way you really mean it. Various uses of the phrase "Stop telling me you're okay." Romerica, college au. Romerica Xmas exchange gift for aph-memepan!


**Winter, midterms:**

A thud, and then, "I'm okay!" Lovino paused, but no explanation was forthcoming. So he went back to typing, if only for a few minutes before there was another loud thud followed shortly by another yelled, "I'm okay!" Lovino felt his eyebrow twitch, but he resolved to himself to ignore the noise and keep working. He needed to finish this paper by tomorrow, dammit. He huddled even more into his jacket and flexed his fingers, which were starting to go stiff in the cold.

But it wasn't _quite_ cold enough to snow. Annoying.

"I'm okay!" preceded by another loud crash.

Also annoying.

"Hey!" he shouted in the general direction of the disturbance. "Can you _stop_ telling me you're okay? I don't give a fuck!"

"Huh?" someone shouted back.

"I don't care! I'm tryna work here!" Lovino shouted, even louder.

For a moment he thought maybe his wishes would be respected (ha!), but then there was a rolling clatter, getting closer. A blonde guy in a hoodie and glasses ambled up to his bench, skateboard tucked under one arm.

"Hey," he said, much to Lovino's consternation. He hadn't been trying to start a conversation here, he just wanted some peace and quiet. Blondie continued, despite Lovino's grimace. "Sorry, I didn't know anyone else was around! I was trying out some new tricks on the railings over there."

"Didn't sound like it was going very well," Lovino bit out.

"Not really." He shrugged but he was grinning when he said, "But I'm okay!"

Lovino huffed. "So you kept saying."

"Well, y'know. Just in case anyone _was_ watching me make a fool a' myself."

"I wasn't watching, I was trying to work on a paper."

"What, outside? In this weather?"

"My roommate is currently using our dorm room for activities I do _not_ want to bear witness to."

Blondie pointed. "Library's that way."

"I am...not currently allowed into the library."

"Well that sounds like a fun story."

"Not really."

"I'm Alfred, by the way."

"Still don't care."

"You look really cold, dude."

"Well once I finish this paper I can head inside where it's warm and there aren't any skateboarding idiots around to bother me."

Alfred blinked. And blinked again. "Oh! You want me to leave, don't you?"

"Nice job reading the atmosphere, asshole."

"I dunno, people keep telling me to read it but I can't find it in any bookstores."

Lovino gave him a disbelieving look. Alfred smiled back, but it crooked into a mischievous grin after a few moments.

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving. See ya in class, Lovino."

"...how the hell do you know my name?"

"You're doing the paper for Smith, right? We're in the same class, dude."

"Doesn't explain how you know my name."

"Well, I uh, just noticed you, I guess." Alfred actually blushed before throwing his skateboard down. "Gotta go, good luck writing!" And skated away.

Weird.

Kind of cute.

...Still annoying.

 **Winter, finals:**

Lovino was hovering outside the door, notecards gripped in his hands, and attempting some of the stupid deep breathing exercises people kept telling him about. Granted those were intended for anger management and not nerves, but he was pretty sure the same principle applied here. He needed to _calm the fuck down_ or else everything would go to shit.

"I'm okay," he told himself between breaths. His classmates were starting to arrive, bypassing him and heading into the classroom. A few shot him concerned looks, but most completely ignored him in favor of dealing with their own academic despair.

Smith had told him he'd be presenting first that day, so he could just go ahead and bring up his presentation on the projector when he came into class. Which, great! Thanks! He loved being the first to give a major presentation. Worth a quarter of his grade. In front of the entire class. So sue him, he was stalling in the hallway for a bit. He glared down at the floor.

Someone stopped in front of him. Dumb skater shoes, ripped jeans. Had to be Alfred.

"Do _not_ right now," he warned. "I'm okay."

"Sure you are, dude. How 'bout you stop _telling_ me you're okay and actually act like it? C'mon, head up!"

"Didn't I just say to _not_?" Lovino demanded, but he looked up anyway.

Alfred grinned, blue eyes twinkling. "Widen your stance."

"Hmm, how about no?"

"Seriously, this'll help."

Lovino briefly calculated the chances that Alfred would leave him alone if he just ignored him. Slim to none. Fine. He sighed his annoyance even as he shuffled his feet further apart.

"Great! And hands on the hips"

"Are you serious?"

But Alfred was apparently absolutely serious, showing off the pose himself. Lovino grudgingly followed suit.

"Feel better?"

Once again, Lovino couldn't believe this guy. "How is this supposed to make me feel better?"

"I read somewhere that the Wonder Woman pose boosts confidence. It's not working?"

"Of course it's not, I feel ridiculous!" He hurried back into a neutral stance as more classmates trooped by them.

"I dunno what to tell you, then. Try picturing them in their underwear?"

Lovino shoved him half-heartedly. "Go away."

"Hey, don't worry about it so much! A bunch of people won't even show up today. LIke the people who have to present tomorrow and are cramming last minute."

"Oh? And when do you present?"

Alfred grinned and rocked back on his heels. "Last."

"Fuck off."

That was when Professor Smith showed up.

"Ready to go, Mr. Vargas?" she asked cheerfully.

"As I'll ever be," he replied, and he followed her to his fate.

Oddly enough, when he looked out at the class as he began his presentation, he ended up picturing not his classmates in their underwear, but Alfred, standing in that ridiculous pose in the hallway. The presentation passed in a blur, but apparently words came out of his mouth and they made sense because the professor smiled at him when he came up for air, and he got a polite round of applause from his classmates. Alfred gave him a thumbs-up from the back row.

He was still riding a wave of relieved endorphins by the end of class, which was really the only explanation for why he'd pulled Alfred aside and given him his phone number. For "in case he wanted to practice his presentation," he'd said. And Alfred had grinned that grin again, and Lovino had actually smiled back.

Ugh, hormones.

 **Winter, finals pt. 2:**

They'd texted quite a bit since then, actually. And they had actually hung out for about twenty minutes so Alfred could practice his own presentation, but that was really the extent of their face-to-face interaction.

On a Tuesday night, at one in the morning, Alfred texted him to tell him he'd broken his skateboard.

 **Alfred:** and i'm okay and all but

 **Alfred** : my board

 **Alfred** : you know?

 **Alfred** : and shit it was a lot of $$ and I don't think I can afford to get a new one right now

Groggy and not a little annoyed, Lovino fumble-texted back.

 **Me** : its assoclock inthe mornnig please stop telling ME ur ok and tetxt ur bro instead or smthn

 **Alfred** : sorry Lovi it's just that

 **Alfred** : my family thinks it's kind of dumb? Like it's a passion for me, I'm not expecting to be like tony hawk or anything

 **Alfred** : you know who tony hawk is right

 **Me** : ya

 **Alfred** : right so it's not like I'm expecting skating to be a career but it's not just a hobby it's something I care about and none of my family gets that

 **Alfred** : like if I was passionate about the piano or something SURE they'd love that but apparently skating is not

 **Alfred** : idk

 **Alfred** : respectable enough

 **Alfred** : but I care about it

Lovino tried to think of something to say.

 **Alfred** : anyway I'm okay, sorry to bother you so late

 **Me** : its fine, srry bout ur board

 **Me** : and u will b skaterng again nno time

 **Me** : and i think its reallyy cool

 **Me** : like tony falcons

 **Alfred** : omg

 **Alfred** : thanks Lovi

 **Alfred** : also do you not have autocorrect turned on?

 **Me** : i turned it off kept changing my swearin

 **Alfred** : you're the best

Lovino snorted and shoved his phone under his pillow so he could go back to sleep.

 **Spring semester:**

Months later, Lovino finally had Alfred alone in his dorm, and his brother was supposed to be out until further notice. It was supposed to be a nice night. _Supposed to be_.

First off, Feliciano returned unannounced right when they were cuddling up to watch a movie on Lovino's laptop. Cheerful and oblivious as always, he'd flounced right in and started chattering about the club meeting being cancelled so he'd just come back here, and he'd seen Kirkland down in the dorm kitchens attempting to cook something horrible-smelling and snuck by him to avoid being forced to taste-test, and hi Alfred, he didn't realize that he was coming over to study with Lovino!

Alfred snickered as Lovino groaned under the onslaught. Grumbling, he hid his face in Alfred's chest. Even this was not enough to deter his brother, who sat down on his own cot and continued to talk. Lovino resigned himself to it, relaxing and letting Alfred's arms encircle him and hold him close. He'd almost fallen asleep listening to his boyfriend and his brother's soft chitchat when the fire alarm started going off.

The eternal bane of college students' existence and sleep schedules, the fire alarm only ever went off in the dead of night or the dead of winter. It was always, always a false alarm. The three of them all groaned simultaneously at the sudden blaring noise, but started to get up. Lovino was an RA, which meant he had to go bang on people's doors and make sure they actually left the building in case the fire marshals did a check.

"I'll meet you outside in a few," he called as he hastened out the door.

"Okay!"

He was halfway down the hall, glaring a few stragglers down as they muttered their way towards the stairs, when the RA from the floor above approached. Gilbert looked more frazzled than usual, which was saying something.

"If you made the damn alarms go off smoking in your dorm again, I _swear_ —" Lovino started to say, but Gilbert cut him off.

"Wasn't me, man, I heard from Luddy on the first floor this is like, an actual fire. The fuckin' Brit kid sent the kitchen up in smoke!"

" _What_."

"Yeah, we need to get everyone the hell out!"

Suddenly intensely grateful his brother and Alfred were already out of the building, he worked in tandem with Gilbert to scare the rest of the dorm residents outside onto the quad, where the entire student population was watching fire trucks pull up onto the curb close to the first-floor kitchen. Smoke was trickling out of the window, but no flames were visible that Lovino could see.

The other RA, Ludwig, cornered them to give an update on the situation.

"It's not actually that bad," he sighed when Gilbert started barraging him with questions. "Mostly smoke, a pan on the stove caught on fire. Kirkland tried to put out an oil fire with water, and scared himself pretty badly in the process. He was apparently just standing there in shock when people started evacuating. One of them ran in and actually used the fire extinguisher, got Kirkland out."

Gilbert whistled. "Who was it?"

Ludwig just shrugged. "Not a resident. Some visitor. He and Kirkland got pulled over to the ambulance, to see about possible smoke inhalation."

Visitor?

"Shit!" Lovino yelled, and darted in the direction of the emergency vehicles.

"You okay, Vargas?" Gilbert shouted after him, but Lovino ignored him.

He spotted Kirkland first.

"Hey!"

"I'm okay," Kirkland grumbled, perched on the back of an ambulance. "Please stop yelling."

"What—?"

"There may have been a _small_ fire," Kirkland continued without letting him finish the question. "But really, I'm _fine_."

Lovino shoved at his shoulder. "Stop telling me _you're_ okay!" he demanded. "What about Alfred?"

Kirkland actually looked affronted. "What, the hooligan with the extinguisher? He's fine, if a bit sooty. Managed to soak my trousers in fire extinguisher fluid, too. A daring rescue, indeed." He snorted.

"Hey," came a croaking voice. Lovino whipped around and saw Alfred standing there, covered with a blanket and face a little pale, but seemingly fine.

"I am, I'm fine. I'm okay," Alfred said, reading his expression.

Lovino stumbled forward and hugged him. "You'd _better_ be, Jesus _Christ_ , what were you _thinking!"_

Alfred started laughing, but that was alright, because he was okay, so Lovino was okay, too.

 **Post-graduation:**

"I'm okay," Alfred said for the fifth time that night, which was when Lovino finally called him on it.

"You are not _okay_." He made air quotes around the word. "You've been acting really weird ever since you picked me up and I was going to let it go since it's been such a nice night, but then you said you were okay _again_ and now I'm calling you out. What the hell's going on?"

Alfred gave him an exasperated look. "Okay. Uh. This isn't exactly how I wanted to lead up to this, but I can work with it."

They were on the boardwalk next to the river. They'd finished dinner and dessert at a nice restaurant, and then Alfred had insisted on taking a stroll near the water, which was illuminated by old-fashioned streetlights. Sailboats done up with decorative lights drifted by slowly in the evening dusk. All lovely, except Alfred had been fumbling and stumbling over words for the entirety of date night and Lovino wanted to know _why_ , dammit.

Alfred dropped to one knee.

"OH JESUS CHRIST."

"Lovino. Lovi. Uh."

"Do not _uh_ at me right now!"

"Look, I'm really nervous right now, and that's not helping."

"You don't...there's nothing to be nervous about, Alfred."

"...Lovi, will you marry me?"

A ring box.

Alfred's hopeful expression, upturned and glowing and perfect.

"Okay," he said.

They grinned at each other.

Alfred took his hand, slid the ring on. "Okay, oh my God, _Lovi_!"

They kissed.

It was much better than okay.


End file.
